Shortly after reporting to spring training on Friday, Cabrera faced a media gathering that was unusually large for this place and this time of year. Besides the usual crew of Toronto writers, a collection of prominent national baseball reporters from the United States had arrived early, hoping for the chance to grill Cabrera about his 50-game drug suspension last year.

But earlier, at 7 a.m., the Blue Jays issued a statement in which Cabrera, on advice of his lawyers, said he would have nothing to say on that topic. Reporters tried an array of oblique questions, but Cabrera refused to crack.

As coach Luis Rivera translated his answers from Spanish to English, Cabrera appeared uncomfortable at times as camera shutters clicked away. But he said he did not dread facing the media.

“I was looking forward to this day,” he said. “I wanted to face the press and the people. I knew I made a mistake. It’s in the past and I’m going to move forward.”

His clubhouse welcome was warm.

“When I walked into the clubhouse, they received me with open arms,” he said. “I got a hug from everybody. I know a lot of guys on the club – [Jose] Bautista, [Edwin] Encarnacion, Jose Reyes. They already told me, ‘This is your home. Don’t worry about it, just feel like this is home for you.’ ”

He refused to take the bait when reporters asked, for example, why he decided to use synthetic testosterone, whether he had promised the Jays not to take a banned substance again or whether he felt like he has something extra to prove this season.

Asked to specify the biggest lesson he had learned, Cabrera replied: “I know I made a huge mistake, and that was very hard for me and my family. But I also understand that I paid the price for it. I’m just looking forward to this year.”

Cabrera was batting .346 for the San Francisco Giants when he was suspended last August. The Giants did not reinstate him when he became eligible during the playoffs. Before last season, he was a career .275 hitter with a .331 on-base percentage.

I was looking forward to this day. I wanted to face the press and the people. I knew I made a mistake

Asked how the Blue Jays perceive Cabrera’s body of work, and how their fans should assess it, general manager Alex Anthopoulos replied: “You definitely have to throw out last year. I certainly understand the suspicions.”

In late January, Cabrera’s name surfaced again in a report about a Miami anti-ageing clinic purported to have sold performance-enhancing drugs to him and other players. In his statement, Cabrera said he is co-operating with Major League Baseball and U.S. authorities investigating that report, but refused further comment.

Anthopoulos said he came away confident from conversations with MLB officials that Cabrera will not face a further suspension as a result of the new details reported by Miami New Times.

“I’m very, very comfortable we don’t have anything to worry about,” Anthopoulos said. “There’s never a guarantee but I feel very confident. I haven’t even thought about it for a second, that’s how good I feel about it.”

He reiterated that the club did a thorough background check and, except for the single positive drug test, all reports said Cabrera was a good teammate, a hard worker, a good hitter and a solid defender. The taint of his suspension also meant he was available at a discount.

Anthopoulos also acknowledged that the Jays are taking a risk that Cabrera might not come close to repeating his 2012 stats. But the GM said he is confident the switch-hitting outfielder will not take a banned substance again.

During a private chat before offering him a two-year, US$16-million contract in November, Anthopoulos said he asked why Cabrera had decided to violate baseball’s ban on performance-enhancing drugs. The GM refused to divulge Cabrera’s answer, or anything else about the conversation, but came away believing that Cabrera had taken full responsibility for his misdeed and felt “a sincerity of regret.”

“He understands as well that people have a right to ask you whatever you want,” Anthopoulos said. “They have a right to be upset. Like he said,’ I brought it on myself.’

“Whatever he has to deal with, he made his bed that way, but he realizes it and all he can do is move forward. It was a good conversation overall and I asked all those things. Obviously I was satisfied.”

Manager John Gibbons said he believes fans will not badger Cabrera about the drug issue.

“Once you’ve admitted the mistake, people forgive you in this business,” Gibbons said. “They’ll pull for you.”

• • •

Anthopoulos has often talked of the Blue Jays’ willingness to give a fallen player a second chance. Some asked whether hiring a drug cheat sends the wrong message in a sport trying to rid itself of the PED stigma.

He said that is a fair question. He also said he thought the Jays’ policy is fair, given that most players suspended for PED have tested positive again.

But that question was not ignored as club officials discussed whether to offer Cabrera a contract, he said.

Here is a partial transcript of Anthopoulos’s response to that question.

“That’s something that we talked about. You always talk about as an organization what impact does it have on your other players. I think [the question is] 100% fair; it’s not disrespectful at all. That’s part of the discussion. That was one of the debates.

“You always talk about, ‘Sure, we’re here we want to win and so on, but what does your organization stand for, what are you about?’ You are a social institution and all of those things …

“I think the fact that other players have gone through it was part of the decision-making, and I don’t know that we would have [wanted to be] the trailblazer and say we’re going to be the first ones to do this. Whether you want to say that’s a cop-out, that’s fair too, but there was definite comfort that other players have gone through this.

“We all know it has been part of the sport. It’s an unfortunate part of the sport. I don’t know that it will ever be gone, I know that’s the attempt. But because other players have gone through … second chances, [and] the feedback we got, make no mistake we think he can help us win games. That was part of it as well. You put it all in a pot and that’s the decision we came up with.

“This isn’t the first time someone has been given a second chance. There are players that are very well respected in the game that have gone through this. I don’t need to single them out but I think the game has shown we can give someone a second chance when it comes to this. Some organizations would say, ‘I feel so strongly about this matter that I’m not willing to do that,’ and that’s everyone’s right. We’re an organization that’s prepared to give a second chance …

“Is [drug testing] enough of a deterrent? Clearly not, because it continues to happen, but I think it certainly has deterred a number of players. How many, what percentage I have no idea. But from my understanding, they continue to talk about it. They’re going to test for HGH during the season. It seems like not just baseball but all leagues continue to work to eradicate it from the sport.”